Medication | Ask Garnet

If You Google it, I Will Answer #9

I love seeing how people get to my site. And sometimes they inadvertently find my site by asking a question I never answer here. That makes me sad :( So in the interest of getting people’s questions answered I will respond to questions I see people Googling to get here.

Q: Do blowjobs help sinus infections?

A: It depends what end of the blowjob you’re on. If you’re the one giving the blowjob then I would say that you definitely won’t get any healing benefit from it. In fact you may make it a bit worse if you end up creating a lot of snot while giving oral sex. The more snot, the more it just gets up in those sinuses. It could also hurt more than usual if say the cock you are sucking on ends up poking into your soft palette in the roof of your mouth or if the owner of the cock slaps you in the face with it. Plus there may be difficulty breathing if you are congested.

If you are receiving a blowjob and you have a sinus infection you may get a small boost in immune system function from the orgasm and feeling well cared for. However, I’d really recommend antibiotics, bed rest, and hot showers if you really want to get over your sinus infection quickly.

Vaginal Contraceptive Film

Q: My husband went to Walgreens to pick up some condoms. He said he saw VCF there, which he hasn’t seen in a long time. I went to the website because I’ve actually never heard of this film. Nowhere did it have it’s efficacy against pregnancy. It did however say “no birth control is 100% accurate” lol. We’re married and fine if it happens that I get pregnant..and it seems it might be better since we don’t have to stop to put on a condom. Thoughts?

A: For those who do not know, VCF is Vaginal Contraceptive Film. It is a small, thin, transluscent square that a woman inserts inside of her vagina. After about 15 minutes the sheet melts and coats the cervix with spermicide. It’s kind of like those mint strips you put in your mouth to freshen your breath, but for your vag to keep you from getting pregnant. It is not effective against STIs, and may actually increase your risk, which I will get into later.

The efficacy rates for pregnancy prevention are about 74% for normal use, 94% for perfect use. When paired with condoms the efficacy rate gets up to about 97%. When I say normal use vs. perfect use what I mean is that people screw shit up and don’t always do it right. In general, the more often you use something the better you get at it. So that 74% tends to be for the first year that you use a new method and your efficacy goes up from there. When I say 94% for perfect use that means how effective it is if you use it the correct way every time

You say that it sounds like it might be better because you won’t have to stop to put on a condom. However, you still have to stop to put in the VCF and then wait 15 minutes to make sure it is effective. So unless you plan ahead you will still be stopping and possibly stopping and waiting. And you may not want to plan ahead in this case unless you’re absolutely positive that you’ll be having sex later and this is why …

Nonoxynol-9

VCF is made from Nonoxynol-9 which is a spermicide. It is a very effective spermicide as it immobilizes sperm on contact. However, in such a delicate ecosystem as the vagina you might imagine that there could be some issues. If you use Nonoxynol-9 sparingly there shouldn’t be much of an issue if you’re in a monogamous disease-free relationship unless you are prone to infection. However, the more often you use it the more your vagina is exposed to this harsh chemical. And the more it is exposed to it the more likely you are to actually get vaginal lesions. For people who are not in monogamous disease-free relationships, this means an increased likelihood of contracting an STI especially HIV and HPV.

Like I said, it’s relatively safe if you’re not using it often, which is why you shouldn’t use it unless you are 99.9% sure that you’re about to get it on.

But there’s also the issue of oral sex. Say you and your partner have been having a grand old time fucking away and you just feel this need to have his cock in your mouth. Well now his cock is probably covered in spermicide and will taste not so good and will quite possibly numb your mouth a bit. Or maybe he’s been finger fucking you and rubbing your clit and then he just has to taste you … same thing. Genitals don’t taste so good with nonoxynol-9 all over them and they’ll also make your lips go numb and possibly your tongue.

This is precisely why I said 15 minutes of waiting. Sure you can makeout and feel each other up, but finger fucking and oral sex may make things less pleasant.

Conclusion

So VCF is decent at preventing pregnancy, especially when combined with other birth control methods, but it should be used sparingly and you may not want to put your mouths anywhere near anything that’s been put in your vagina. It’s a great options for some, and not so great for others.

Here is a how-to video provided from the makers of a VCF:

Female Viagra

Dear Garnet,

I was wondering what your opinion is of the so-called “pink Viagra.” Do you think that female sexual dysfunction and related disorders are best treated pharmaceutically?

Sincerely,
Curious in Indianapolis

Oh yay, rant time!

I think that in general our society is too quick to take pills in order to “fix” whatever they perceive to be wrong with them. Everyone is always searching for the little magic bullet that will somehow make them happy, thin, beautiful, ageless, healthy, and a tiger in the sack. It’s just not going to happen. While medication has definitely done wonders for us, there are some issues that may be better solved with trying to figure out what the problem is and how to fix it without the help of pills. And sometimes it may be healthier to just take things on head on. For example, I’m amazed at how quickly antidepressants are prescribed for people mourning the death of a loved one. Mourning is necessary and taking pills to stop that process is not healthy in my opinion.

Anyways, back to the topic, Viagra and “pink Viagra.” Viagra has done good for older men who physically are unable to get erections. But I feel that Viagra has also done a lot of harm as well in relationships. The book, The Viagra Myth by Dr. Abraham Morgentaler, talks a lot about this. Viagra is seen as this wonder drug that is somehow going to fix a relationship that isn’t going so well. As if a hard dick is the solution to all intimacy issues. Sex stops being about connecting and starts centering only on the erection. The erection can even be a source of frustration when the man wants sex and his partner does not. Foreplay becomes less important. I’m not saying that this is the case for all men on Viagra and their partners, but it happens often. In fact, according to Dr. Morgentaler, 50% of men prescribed Viagra don’t get refills. Viagra use can sometimes result in the end of a relationship. This can especially be true when it comes to men who don’t even need Viagra in order to get an erection. What needs to happen is for these couples to talk about their problems with each other. Communication is very important. And if that isn’t working then relationship counseling may be the next step.

Now pink viagra is a little different. Women have been being diagnosed with sexual dysfunctions for a really long time, but I don’t believe that a lot of these dysfunctions are real. Our society is so phallic centered that many women who can’t orgasm from vaginal intercourse alone often think of themselves as dysfunctional. Freud called them frigid. Women often need more stimulation, specifically clitoral stimulation. Not only that, but they need time to warm up. While quickies can be fun, many women really need to be wooed before intercourse can start. This wooing can even include chores taken on by her partner so that she has less to worry about and is more relaxed. I fear that if a Viagra-type pill for women comes out the average woman who needs to be wooed in order to be in the mood for sex will be considered even more dysfunctional even though in reality she is actually quite normal.

So in other words, what I’m basically saying is that instead of resorting to pharmaceutical solutions, couples should figure out what is missing from their lives and their relationship. They should communicate with one another to figure out why maybe she doesn’t have as high of a libido as she once did or why she has difficulty orgasming and how these things can be overcome. Communication and experimentation are going to work a lot better than any kind of pill. And if you’re having a difficult time communicating with each other then it is probably best to see a relationship counselor so that you can get help with communication. A lot of people rather skip this because its hard, but a pill is not the easy way out of a tough spot.

Spontaneous Orgasm

How and more importantly why do men sometimes ejaculate without having an erection?

Further information was provided after I asked some more questions, specifically:

Without erection at all, arousal being anything from nothing to an unusually stunning person. Right before, my testicles get very ticklish and there’s a euphoric tingling sensation. This usually happens while sitting down.

This question took me a really long time to get around to answering. The reason for this is because I’d actually never heard of this before and when I talked to the medical professionals that I know (and also someone at Planned Parenthood) they were all pretty puzzled. In researching I have found some information that may help you though.

An erection is not required to have an orgasm or to ejaculate. While they are all often tied together in our minds because they all usually happen together, there are different things going on in each and none are required to make the other one happen. However, this is mostly talked about with men who cannot get an erection.

When it comes to spontaneous orgasm it looks like the most likely culprit is antidepressants. There have been studies done that show that spontaneous orgasm is actually a side effect to antidepressants including: Wellbutrin, Paxil, Prozac, and Celexa. Most of the studies have been done on women and some report having as many as 15 spontaneous orgasms per day with very little or no stimulation whatsoever. So if you’re on an antidepressant that may be what is causing it. Either way though you should probably go to a doctor and get yourself checked out. Spontaneous orgasms, especially ones where you ejaculate, can become pretty embarrassing in public situations.